


Cabin in the Snow

by NeverBeenSane



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Christmas fic, F/M, For a Friend, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-08 02:25:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1127257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverBeenSane/pseuds/NeverBeenSane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a little Christmas fic set in an AU setting without all the angels and demons and hunters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cabin in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> First fic I'm posting for public consumption. I've shared it with a few friends and they liked it so I decided to share on here. It is unbeta'd so please bear with me when it comes to any spelling/grammatical mistakes. Just drop me a line and I'll edit as they get caught.

     Castiel sighed softly as he opened the door to the condo that he shared with his younger sister, Sariel, and their older brother, Gabriel. Sariel was lounging on the sofa in a Red Panda Kigurumi, reading one of her textbooks for next semester. Castiel shut the door behind himself and toed off his shoes. Arching a brow, he gave her a questioning look and asked, "Have you even moved?"

     It wouldn't surprise him if she hadn't. Sariel had just gotten done with her finals for this semester and was taking advantage of her new found freedom by being the laziest little shit he'd ever encountered; and that was saying something considering he was a professor of English. She was also still in the same spot he had left her in this morning when he'd gone to proctor his own final and it didn't look like she'd gotten up for food or a drink since there were no new mugs or chip bags on the coffee table.

     Setting her book aside, Sariel stood up and stretched until her back popped and sighed softly. Looking over at her brother, she grinned sheepishly and asked, "Does that count?"

     Castiel chuckled softly and shook his head. "Come on, I'll make you something to eat. You must be starving. Gabriel home yet? He was only supposed to be working a half-day today."

     "Gabe had to stop in at Turner's on his way home from the shop." Sariel said, trailing after her brother into the kitchen. Sitting on the counter and swinging her legs slightly, she watched Castiel pull the stuff to make grilled cheese from the fridge.

     "Turner's?" He asked, glancing over at her as he pulled out a couple cans of tomato soup from the pantry.

     "The auto-body shop with the cute green-eyed mechanic whose ass you're always checking out." Sariel said, smirking when she saw a blush rise in Castiel's cheeks.

     "I don't know what you're talking about." He denied, clearing his throat and dumping the two cans of tomato soup in a pot.

     "Right...You know his brother, Sam, was in my philosophy classes." Sariel said, checking her nails in an attempt to look nonchalant. Actually, Sam was her TA but Cas didn't need to know that. Glancing over at his sister, Castiel refused to give into her prodding and merely resumed making them grilled cheese sandwiches to go with their soup. Sariel smirked slightly at her brother's insistence to ignore her and, just as he was pulling a bowl out of the cabinet, added, "And I invited him and his brother to join us at the cabin for the week of Christmas and New Year's."

     "You did what?" Castiel asked, jumping slightly which caused him to drop the bowl he was holding on the floor. Sariel schooled her features into her best innocent puppy look as Castiel bent down to pick up the shards of the now broken bowl. Scowling, he glanced at her with a hard expression and chastised, "You have to check with us when you do that, Sariel."

     "I asked Gabe if I could invite a few friends and he said it was ok. I figured you'd jump at the chance to be near your favorite mechanic." Sariel said, grinning as Castiel blushed wildly. She watched with amusement as her brother started ranting about how you can't just invite people to family holidays without checking first as he started assembling the ingredients for grilled cheese sandwiches. Sariel looked up when Gabe walked in with a Tupperware dish filled with Christmas cookies.

     "I take it you told him that you asked Sam and Dean to join us for Christmas, huh?" Gabe whispered, leaning against the counter next to her. He looked over at her and offered the Tupperware container.

     "He's a little peeved." Sariel muttered as Castiel continued to rant in the background as he pulled out bowls for their soup. She popped the lid off the container and pulled out a sugar cookie in the shape of a moose with a Santa hat on it.

     "Oh, I ran into Kevin today while I was at Turner's. Apparently his flight home got cancelled and his engine's completely fucked so he's not gonna make it home for Christmas." Gabriel said, watching Sariel bite off the moose's antler.

     "What's wrong with his engine?" Sariel asked between bites, frowning slightly. She and Kevin had been lab partners in their freshman Intro to Psych class and she'd kept in touch with him after the class had ended. Occasionally having lunch or dinner with the pre-med student; when she wasn't working and he didn't have his nose buried in a textbook. She also had a not so small crush on the guy but her brothers weren't exactly aware of that fact.

     "Something about not changing the oil...I don't know, I wasn't exactly paying attention." Gabriel said, looking away from her to watch Castiel move around the kitchen.

     "Sam was there, wasn't he?" Sariel said, biting back another smirk. Gabe shrugged a shoulder but couldn't hide the blush that crept up his neck, which caused Sariel to chuckle. Her older brothers thought that they had been so clandestine about their feelings for the mechanic and the grad student, but Sariel could see right through them. It didn't take someone as observant as Sherlock Bloody Holmes to figure out that her brothers had a thing for their respective Winchesters.

     "When you two are done gossiping about the bloody Winchesters, lunch is ready." Castiel said moodily as he sat down at the kitchen table to eat his own food. Sariel chuckled softly and hopped down. Sliding into the seat across from Cas, she picked up her sandwich and took a small bite. She smiled warmly at her brother as she chewed; thankful that he remembered that she liked pepperoni in her grilled cheese. Cas sighed softly and shot her a small smile in return.

     "Oh, Castiel, you'll never guess who I ran into while at Turner's." Gabe said, smiling brightly as he sat down at the table. Castiel raised an eyebrow at his eldest brother but didn't offer a guess at who he'd come across. Sariel raised an eyebrow at the eldest Ingraham. There was no way Castiel hadn't heard their exchange, so why was he making such a big deal out of telling Cas? Gabriel's grin widened and continued, "Kevin Tran came in with car troubles while I was dropping off Rufus' order of moonpies. Apparently his engine blew and he can't afford a plane ticket home this close to the holidays. I invited him to come up to the cabin with us so he won't be alone on Christmas."

     Castiel hid a smile behind his cup as Sariel blushed and looked down at her food. They knew that she had a crush on her friend, even if she thought they didn't. He watched as she toyed with her food before taking another bite. Gabriel was watching her curiously, waiting for her to thank him for inviting her crush. Castiel cleared his throat and said, "That'll be nice. I'm sure Kevin will appreciate being with a friend over break, right Sariel?"

     "Yeah, but you do know that there's only like two rooms at the cabin, right? Well, two rooms and a pullout." Sariel said, raising an eyebrow at her brothers.

     "Cas and I will share one room, Sam and Dean can take the other, and you and Kevin can crash in the living room. One on the pullout and another on a rollaway in front of the fireplace." Gabriel said, grinning.

     "Of course..." Sariel said, rolling her eyes and digging in to her lunch. Castiel and Gabe shared a look before digging back in to their own lunches.

~*~*~*~*~*

     Sam glanced over at his brother when the elder Winchester walked into the living room. Dean dropped on to the sofa next to him and kicked his feet up on the coffee table causing Sam to roll his eyes. Turning to Dean, he asked, "Long day at the shop?"

     "I hate irresponsible car owners. Especially the young ones." Dean said, letting his head drop back and shutting his eyes.

     "What happened?"

     "Some kid's engine blew because he forgot to change the oil..."

     "I didn't think that was possible."

     "It is when you forget to change it for 10,000 miles." Dean said, sighing softly. "Kid's gotta pay two grand to replace it."

     "That...really sucks."

     "I overheard him talking to Rufus when I was on break, apparently he's only had the car for a semester. The previous owner was the one who lied about getting the oil changed before he sold it. Rufus took pity on the kid and said he'd only make him pay for the cost of the engine."

     "That was surprisingly nice of Rufus. He's usually a hardass." Sam said, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. Dean just shrugged and flicked on the TV to some Hallmark holiday movie. Sam smiled slightly at his brother's feigned indifference and got to work on making them dinner.

     About an hour or two later, Dean wandered into the kitchen for a beer and Sam motioned to the table with his head since he was just finishing up washing the dishes he'd used to make dinner. Drying his hands on a towel, he said, "Dinner's ready."

     "What're we having tonight?" Dean asked, grabbing his beer from the fridge and settling down at the table.

     "Tandoori Chicken burgers with marsala French fries." Sam said, sitting down across from his brother.

     "You and your weirdo fusion food..." Dean muttered, smirking slightly as he popped a fry in his mouth. "Mmm, this is actually really good."

     Sam rolled his eyes and took a bite of his burger. The two ate in silence for a few minutes until Sam looked up at Dean and said, "We got invited to go to the Ingraham's cabin for Christmas and New Year's."

     "Ingraham's? Like Gabriel?" Dean asked, smirking and shooting his brother a knowing look.

     "Yes, like Gabriel." Sam answered, rolling his eyes.

     "Do you want us to go?" Dean asked, sobering slightly at his brother's annoyed look.

     "I'd like to. I mean, Bobby and Jody went on that Alaskan cruise. Ellen and Jo are in Florida with Ash and Garth for the holidays. It's not like we'd be doing anything other than sitting around here, drinking beer and watching movies." Sam said, shrugging his shoulder.

     "You just wanna spend time with the midget." Dean said, smirking slightly and taking a swig of his beer. He couldn't not tease Sam about his crush on the eldest Ingraham. It was in the brother handbook after all.

     "Ok, one, Gabe is not a midget. I'm just freakishly tall; we've been over that before. And two, Sariel was the one to invite me, not Gabe. She said that if she was cooped up with her brothers for that long she'd end up going insane." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

     "Sariel, huh?"

     "Dean, do not start. She's turning 21 and you're like 40." Sam said, biting back a smirk when Dean scowled at him. He knew it bothered Dean when he exaggerated his age but it was payback for all the jabs that Dean had thrown at him about Gabe so he figured it was fair-play. He also knew that it wasn't the youngest Ingraham that Dean was interested in. His brother wasn't as sneaky with his crushes as he thought.

     "I wasn't going to! And I'm 34. Thank you very much, bitch. I'm not interested in college chicks. Haven't been since I was that age myself. Besides, you're the one who wants to bone the 40 year old midget." Dean said defensively, scowling at his brother.

     Sam shot him one of his classic bitchfaces and said, "Gabe's only 36, jerk, and I don't want to just bone him. Besides, I'm 29, I can have sex with, or date, who I want without needing your approval."

     Dean rolled his eyes and said, "I know that, Sam. I just figured you knew that I viewed her as the annoying little sister I never wanted but grew on me like a damn fungus. She was over here this semester enough that I forgot she lived with her own brothers not with us."

     "No, I didn't know that because you don't talk about your feelings."

     "I baked her a "Congrats on acing your research paper" cake! Who else do I do that for?"

     "Me but...I don't know. I thought you were just being nice since you knew she and I bonded."

     "Ugh, no. Sariel and I actually do talk a little bit when you're not here. Mainly about sports and old movies."

     "Seriously?"

     "Who do you think was the one who suggested we watch Gattaca? But this is all beside the point. What I was trying to tell you was that her name came up when I overheard your man-crush talking to the kid whose engine blew this morning."

     "What do you mean?" Sam asked, cocking his head slightly.

     "Apparently boy-genius is friends with Sariel and Gabe invited him to join the two of them at the cabin for Christmas as well."

     "Huh..." Sam said, frowning slightly and taking a bite of his burger. They slipped back into a comfortable silence as they ate.

     As they were clearing the table, Dean said, "Go call Sariel and tell her we'll go. It's not like we've got anywhere else to go this Christmas." He glanced over at his younger brother as he turned on the hot water to start the dishes. Dean smiled slightly as Sam's face lit up with an excited smile. The younger Winchester gave his brother an affectionate punch on the arm before heading out to the living room to grab his cell off the coffee table. Dean shook his head fondly as he started to wash the dinner dishes. He wondered if the middle Ingraham would be heading up to the cabin with them or if he had to stay behind to grade papers. Dean glanced up to see Sam walking around the living room, laughing on the phone with Sariel. He'd never admit this to Sam but he kinda hoped the blue-eyed Ingraham would be joining them. Maybe he'd actually get the guy to say more than two words to him.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Kevin sighed as he flopped onto his bed. This had been one of the worst days this semester; including the flunked philosophy test he had back in September. He dug his phone out of his pocket and saw that he had four missed calls from his mom. Groaning, he dialed her number and put the phone to his ear.

     "Kevin? Where have you been? I got an e-mail from the airlines that all flights in and out of Michigan have been cancelled."

     "The engine seized and I had to take it to the shop. It's going to be about two grand to fix. I already transferred the money from my trust fund to my account to pay for it but it won't be fixed until after Christmas since everyone is closed for the week." He replied, figuring he better get the bad news out of the way first.

     "Where are you spending Christmas then?"

     "Sariel's brother invited me to head up to their cabin in Montana for the week. I called the airlines and worked my refunded ticket around to let me fly out to Montana with them on Friday."

     "Sariel? Your philosophy tutor?"

     "Yes. You met her at Thanksgiving."

     "Yes, I remember. She was....cute?" Linda said, sounding oddly hopeful.

     Kevin groaned and covered his eyes. He knew his mother meant well, but the constant insinuations and blatant questions about his love life were getting a little annoying. Sighing, he said, "Mom...there's nothing going on between Sariel and I."

     "Are you sure, Kevin? She's the only girl you've brought home since Channing."

     "I know...And...I do. Like her that is. But..."

     "You think she doesn't like you."

     "I'm the weird Asian kid who couldn't get into Princeton and had to settle for Stanford. Of course she doesn't like me." Kevin said, moodily.

     "Kevin. Sariel is not Channing. I know for a fact that Sariel is very impressed with your intelligence. She's intimidated by it, actually."

     "That's not any better, Mom."

     "Just...relax around her, ok? Spend this holiday having fun. I swear, you're going to have an aneurysm before the age of thirty if you keep going this way."

     "Just doing what you taught me, Mom." Kevin muttered, looking up at the ceiling.

     "No...I taught you to balance school and a personal life. Now all you have is school and it's driving you crazy. Relax with Sariel and her brothers this weekend and call me when you land. Alright?"

     "Yes, ma'am."

     "I love you, Kevin. Get some sleep."

     "Goodnight, Mom. I love you too." Kevin said, waiting until he heard his mother hang up before hanging up himself. Sighing softly, he rubbed his eyes and was contemplating going to sleep when his phone buzzed in his hand. Lifting it up, he smiled slightly when he saw Sariel's name pop up. Accepting the call, he put the phone to his ear and said, "Hey, Sariel."

     "Kev, hey, I heard about your car troubles."

     "Yeah...I should've just had the mechanic change the oil after I bought it but I trusted the seller. Never doing that again." He said, rolling onto his side.

     "I can understand why." Sariel said, giggling softly.

     Kevin smiled slightly when he heard Sariel's giggle drift through his phone's crappy ear-piece. He rubbed his face and asked, "So, what's up?"

     "I just wanted to check and see if Gabe twisted your arm to come with us. He can be a bit pushy."

     "Nah, I was worried about getting groceries and stuff but now that I'm going to Montana with you and your brothers...I don't really need to worry about it." Kevin said, rolling back onto his back.

     "You're sure you want to go with us? Castiel and Gabe can be...difficult."

     "And leave you there to slowly lose your mind? No way." Kevin said, chuckling softly. "Trust me, Sariel, I'm going with you guys because I want to."

     "Thank you, Kev. It means a lot."

     "No problem, Sari. I'm looking forward to spending time with you." Kevin admitted softly.

     "I'm looking forward to spending time with you too..." Sariel said, and Kevin could hear her brothers yelling in the background. He heard her sigh and yell for her brothers to knock it off. He chuckled softly and listened to the siblings banter for a few moments before she turned her attention back to him and said, "I'm sorry, Kev. I've got to go. Gabe and Castiel are about to kill each other."

     "Don't worry, Sari. I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?"

     "Ok. Get some sleep."

     "Will do, night."

     "Night, Kev."

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     As the plane taxied around the runway in its wait for clearance to take off, Castiel glanced catty-corner of his aisle seat to check on Kevin and Sariel; who had moved on from their discussion of next semester's courses and were now discussing racial diversity in Disney movies. He knew that Sariel handled flying well but wasn't sure about Kevin, though the younger man seemed to be relaxed and at ease while seated next to Sariel. Glancing to his left, he saw Sam quietly flicking through the inflight magazine with little interest and noticed that Dean was looking around the plane nervously. Cocking his head, he turned to the other man and asked, "Are you feeling well, Dean? You look ill."

    "I don't do planes..." Dean muttered, glancing at the middle Ingraham. Sam snorted softly and merely shot his brother a knowing look before returning his attention to the magazine.

    From Castiel's right, he heard Gabriel shift in his seat. Castiel closed his eyes and quickly prayed to whatever deity was listening that his older brother wasn't going to say anything embarrassing. However, it appeared that no one was listening today as Gabriel said, "You can't be serious, Dean-o. You know that planes are one of the safest modes of travel. Much safer than that Impala of your's."

    Castiel saw Dean's jaw tighten as he shot a glare at the eldest Ingraham. Sighing softly, Castiel turned to his brother and said, "Gabriel, please refrain from showing just how much of an insensitive ass you can be before we even leave California. It is not amusing when you make light of other people's fears, no matter how insignificant or absurd you yourself find them. Nor will it ever be amusing to anyone outside of you and Luke." Gabriel raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to shoot back a retort when Sariel piped up from her seat across the aisle.

    "Do you need him to remind you of the time that your insensitivity to other's phobias caused me to have a panic attack so severe that I had to be hospitalized for a week?" At Gabriel's sheepish look, she added, "I thought not." She turned around in her seat to look at Dean, who was looking between her and Gabriel with a curious expression, and added, "Don't mind Gabe, he's an asshat sometimes. But if you need someone to distract you from..." she paused to motion to the plane around them before continuing, "I suggest talking to Castiel. Once you get him started on a subject he's really passionate about, it's hard to get him to stop and it's easy to just focus on what he's saying and not whatever is making you freak out."

    "Thanks, kid, but I think I'll be ok." Dean said, shooting her a small strained smile. Sariel shot him a skeptical look but returned to her conversation with Kevin. Dean sighed softly and looked over at Castiel to find him staring at him. Blinking, he fought against the blush rising in his cheeks and said, "Can I help you?"

    Castiel, for his part, shook his head as if he had zoned out for a moment and smiled sheepishly at Dean. He shook his head and said, "I was just wondering what year of an Impala you had."

    "Oh!" Dean said, grinning and shifting forward in his seat. It wasn't often that someone actually seemed interested in Baby outside of trying to get in his pants. "Baby's a '67 model with a 327 Engine and a four barrel carburetor."

    "I'm...afraid I have no idea what that means." Castiel said, blushing slightly and looking at Dean apologetically. Dean chuckled softly and quickly launched into an explanation of what exactly a 327 engine was and why that was the best engine. Castiel didn't have a clue what half of the words Dean were saying meant but he enjoyed listening to the other man talk about something he was so obviously passionate about. He noticed that Dean was so wrapped up in his explanation of why his "Baby" was the best car on the road that he didn't even notice the takeoff. In fact, Castiel wouldn't've noticed either had he not caught Sam's eye right as lift off was starting. The younger Winchester gave him a grateful look and a small smile which Cas returned before he refocused on what Dean was saying.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

    Sariel smiled slightly when she heard Dean talking about his car. He knew that Cas didn't know the first thing about cars but was glad that he'd decided to let Dean distract himself by giving him a topic that the eldest Winchester was so obviously passionate about. Glancing back at her brother, she noticed an affectionate expression gracing his features that he'd only worn for one other person outside of family. Sariel wondered briefly if she was imagining the fact that her brother was wearing the look she'd gotten so used to associating with Meg, Castiel's now ex-girlfriend, or if her brother's feelings for the elder Winchester ran deeper than she previously thought. She knew that he had a crush on Dean; that much was obvious by the blushing and awkward interactions they had had whenever Castiel had had to drop his car off to get worked on. She wondered if Castiel would be able to distract Dean on their second flight; much smaller plane than the 737 they were currently on and one that would shake more during takeoff and landing due to the fact that it was a prop-job.

    She was pulled from her musings when she felt Kevin's hand on her's. Tearing her eyes away from her brother, she looked over at her friend and raised her eyebrows at him as if to say 'What did I miss this time?' He chuckled softly and said, "You zoned out for a moment."

    "Yeah, sorry." Sariel said, blushing lightly and rubbing the back of her head. Chuckling, she softly admitted, "I got caught up in my matchmaking plans."

    Kevin chuckled and quietly asked, "The one to get Gabe and Sam together or the one to get Castiel and Dean together?"

    "Castiel and Dean. Castiel's wearing that dopey affectionate look he always got when talking to Meg so I think he likes Dean more than he let on." Sariel whispered, grinning and biting her lip to keep from squealing from happiness.

    "Then it should be easy to get them together. A few well-placed mistletoe sprigs and you're golden." Kevin murmured, briefly glancing down at Sariel's bottom lip caught between her teeth. He wondered if she knew just how much of a turn on that was to other people. He assumed not due to the fact that she never really flirted with anyone or showed any iota of interest in, well, anyone.

    "I'm really glad you decided to come with us, Kev. It'd suck to be stuck in a cabin with two sets of romantically impaired idiots all by myself." Sariel whispered, squeezing his hand.

    Smiling slightly, Kevin nodded and said, "It's not a problem, Sariel."

~*~*~*~*~*

 

    When they'd landed in Seattle for their layover and had found their next gate, Kevin and Sariel immediately headed for the nearest Starbucks while Dean and Castiel made a beeline for the nearest bathroom. Gabriel shook his head and plopped down in the seat next to Sam. The younger man looked over at him with a small smile and said, "Is it going to be like this for the next week and a half? Kevin and Sariel disappearing and Dean dragging your brother off to do God knows what?"

    "Probably...Sariel's got a crush on Kevin the size of Texas, while Castiel has a fallen so far for Dean it's surprising the guy hasn't noticed." Gabriel said, rolling his eyes.

    Sam chuckled softly and said, "He's noticed. Just...doesn't think he's interpreting it right. Your brother is a bit...odd."

    "Yeah...We think Cassie was dropped on his head as a child." Gabriel joked, smirking up at the other man. Sam chuckled and settled down into his seat. Gabriel smiled and looked around the terminal.

    "I'm surprised you were able to get away from the shop long enough to come on this vacation." Sam said, looking back over at the eldest Ingraham.

    "It was hard, handing over the reins to Alfie, but the kid's been working there since I opened and knows how everything's run and knows the recipes as well as I do." Gabriel said, shrugging a shoulder. Sam nodded and, after a moment and with a coquettish wink, Gabriel added, "Besides, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to hang out with my favorite customer outside of the shop."

    "I only order pies for my brother." Sam said, rolling his eyes playfully and looking around for their siblings; mainly to hide the blush rising in his cheeks but also to see if they were coming back anytime soon to interrupt their flirting.

    "You're still my favorite customer, Samsquatch" Gabriel said, his grin widening as he noticed the redness rising in Sam's cheeks.

    "You just want me for my looks." Sam joked, looking over at the shorter man.

    "Nah, but they sure are a bonus, Moose." Gabe said, his voice suddenly taking a more flirtatious tone. Sam looked down and bit his lip to fight back a smile and a blush.

    Looking at Gabriel out of the corner of his eye, Sam quietly admitted, "You're not half-bad yourself. Must have all the girls falling over you."

    "And the boys." Gabe said, smirking as Sam's head snapped up and swiveled to look at him. He watched the younger man gap at him like a fish out of water for a beat before he added, in a more serious tone, "But a particular grad-student going to Stanford Law refuses to react to all my best pickup lines. I've had to resort to teasing him like we're school children and showering him with free Mango Papaya muffins when he comes in to pick up pies for his brother. Which makes both of my siblings and Alfie laugh mercilessly at me."

    Sam stared at him for a minute and, just as he was about to respond, Dean and Castiel returned from the bathroom. Castiel sat next to Gabriel and asked him about their next flight; which caused Gabe to tear his eyes away from Sam and turn his attention to his brother. Sam stared at Gabe for another moment before his brother punched him in the arm and muttered, in a tone low enough that the Ingrahams wouldn't hear him but his brother would, "Dude, quit staring. I get that you have a boner for the dude but jeez, tone down the chick-flick moments." Rolling his eyes, Sam muttered that Dean should mind his own business before he stood up and headed towards the nearest shop selling food to grab something to eat. Gabriel watched him go before sighing softly and rubbing his temples.

    "Did we interrupt something?" Castiel asked quietly, looking between Sam's retreating figure and Gabriel with a look of concern. Gabriel merely shook his head and pulled out a book, intent on ignoring his younger brother's questioning stare.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

    Kevin took a sip of his Gingerbread Latte as he and Sariel walked back to their gate. He'd never tried it before but Sariel had assured him it was basically Christmas in a cup so he hadn't argued with her. He glanced over at her only to see that she was looking around the terminal with a bored expression as she sipped her own Peppermint Hot Coco. Clearing his throat, he nudged her shoulder and said, "Excited for snow?"

     "Eh, Not really. I'm more excited to bake Christmas cookies with Gabe and make sure Cas doesn't burn the turkey again this year." Sariel said, looking over at Kevin with a small smile. "Is there anything you're looking forward to?"

     "Well...I was looking forward to watching old Christmas movies with my mom. Like It's a Wonderful Life and those old stop motion VHSes."

     "I think we have some of those at the Cabin. If not, I've got a ton them saved on my laptop. We can watch them together since Gabe and Cas never want to watch them with me." Sariel said, shooting him a grin as she grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze before letting go again.

     Kevin returned the smile and, once they arrived back at their gate, took a seat opposite the Winchesters and the elder Ingrahams. He glanced between Gabe, who now had his nose buried in a book, and Sam, who kept stealing glances over at Gabe. Quirking a brow, he turned to Sariel and inclined his head towards her sibling. She gave him an 'I have no idea what happened, they were fine when we left' look before pulling out her Kindle to read until they had to board the plane. Kevin sighed softly and resigned himself to people watching. Laying his arm on the back of Sariel's seat, he looked around the terminal and took another sip of his drink. Dean caught his eye and shot him a knowing smirk causing the younger man to roll his eyes and go back to trying to deduce people.

     After a couple minutes, he felt a weight on his shoulder and looked over to see that Sariel had decided to use him as a pillow while she read. He smiled slightly and let his arm wrap around her as he quickly looked away. There was no way he was going to let himself be caught staring at his best friend. That would just be creepy. He noticed Sam was giving him a shit-eating grin and was about to shoot him a confused look back when he felt Sariel start to toy absentmindedly with his fingers. Kevin felt himself blushing and quickly averted he gaze to the nearest television as he sipped his latte. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long layover.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Dean looked up at the propeller powered plane suspiciously. He thought they were flying in on jets, not planes that looked like they could drop out of the sky at any moment. He heard Castiel sigh softly from his left. Glancing over at the professor, he frowned when he saw Cas looking at him with an unreadable expression. Scowling, he defensively asked, "What?"

     "Propeller planes have been flying for far longer than jets and are considerably safer. Now come on, I'm certain that our siblings and Kevin have already claimed their seats." Cas said, stepping around him and heading towards the steps.

     "I told you I don't do planes very well." Dean grumbled, following Cas up the steps and into the tiny commuter plane. Cas merely glanced back at him and continued on to his seat. Dean rolled his eyes and checked his ticket for his seat number. He frowned when he saw that he wasn't anywhere near his brother or the others, aside from Cas. Sariel was seated up front in the first two rows while Kevin was across the aisle and a few rows back from her. Gabe was seated beside Sariel and his brother was stuck in the emergency exit aisle because it allowed for more leg room. According to his ticket, Dean was seated at the very back of the plane. Rubbing a hand over his face, Dean made his way back through the crowded plane only to see that he was stuck in a window seat. Next to Castiel.

     Castiel looked up at him and asked, "You want me to take the window?"

     "Nah, you're already settled in. I'll deal with it." Dean muttered, tossing his carry on in the overhead compartment. Castiel stood up and moved aside so Dean could get to his seat without climbing over him. Dean shot him a grateful look before settling into his seat and shutting the blind on the window. Castiel merely settled back into his seat and re-buckled his seatbelt as Dean started fiddling with the in flight information card.

     He was fine while they were sitting on the tarmac waiting to pull away from the gate and he was fine throughout the taxi-ing but as soon as the plane started in on the takeoff, Dean felt himself starting to panic. He tried the breathing exercises that Sam had taught him the last time they had to fly somewhere but it wasn't working this time. He could feel his heart racing and his palms beginning to sweat. He clenched the arms of the seat as hard as he could when the plane began to lift from the tarmac. Just as he was about to start hyperventilating, he heard Cas say, "You know, when I was sixteen, Gabriel bought me a bright orange lace thong as a Christmas gift."

     All thoughts of plane crashes seemed to flee his mind as he looked over at Cas, who was casually reading the SkyMall magazine as if he hadn't just said something so completely outrageous that it completely derailed Dean's panic attack. Clearing his throat, Dean said, "Excuse me?"

     Cas looked over at him and said, "When I was sixteen, Gabriel bought me a bright orange lace thong as a Christmas gift. He wrapped it and put it under the tree for me to open up in front of our entire family."

     "That...that is a dick move." Dean said, still trying to wrap his head around sixteen year old Cas opening a box containing a bright orange lace thong. He was also trying to prevent himself from picturing that but...well....his brain had decided that he didn't know what he was talking about and picturing the man in front of him in nothing but a lacy thong the color of a ripe navel orange was an awesome idea.

     Castiel nodded, purposefully ignoring the fact that it was obvious that Dean was picturing him in said thong, and added, "Gabriel and our cousin Balthazar found it hilarious. My parents, however, did not."

     "I wonder why." Dean said, rolling his eyes. He knew that if he'd played that kind of trick on Sam when they were growing up, it would've lead to a boatload of trouble that neither of them had wanted. Even if he had personally enjoyed it when Rhonda Hurley had made him try on her satin panties when he was 19. Not that Cas would know that or that he'd ever tell him that.

     Cas looked over at Dean and raised an eyebrow. Sighing softly, Cas turned his body more towards the other man and said, "Our parents...well, I say parents. Gabriel and I were adopted as babies. But they were....very strict and very religious. If you hadn't gathered that from the fact that we're all named after Angels. When Gabriel came out as pansexual, they kicked him out and told him never to come back. I chose to stay behind because Sariel was still in the house and needed some sort of non-bigoted upbringing, otherwise I would have outed myself as pan as well and left with him."

     "How old are you anyway? I mean...I know Sariel's 21 and Gabe's 36..."

     "I just turned 32 in November."

     "So...when you were 16, Gabe was 20 and Sariel was 5."

     "Yes. There were a few miscarriages before Sariel that our mother never spoke about. She wanted a baby that was biologically her's and I don't think Gabriel or I could blame her seeing as we turned out to be everything she never wanted in a child." The corner of Cas's lip quirked up in a sardonic smile before he continued, "Sariel was the "miracle baby," she was not supposed to even make it out of the womb but still managed to do so anyway. She's been defying expectations ever since. And, incidentally, turned out to be more like Gabriel and myself than our parents ever wanted."

     "Huh...." Dean said, frowning slightly and looking forward again. Chewing on his lower lip, he took a breath and said, "Sam was just a baby when our mom died. Freak house fire. The fire department could never figure out if it was arson or an accident. Our dad was never the same after that. He tried to look after us for a few years but ultimately decided to let our godfather raise us instead. Bobby was probably the best thing that happened to us. Better than going into foster care. I had a lot of anger towards my dad, and so did Sammy, but he focused his into his schoolwork whereas I focused mine into..."

     "Other pursuits." Cas said, looking over at Dean with the most innocently blank expression he'd ever seen. Chuckling, Dean nodded his head and felt himself relax into his seat. Cas smiled slightly and, just as he was about to continue their conversation, the plane hit a patch of turbulence that completely shattered the work he'd done to shift Dean's focus from his fear of flying. In the span of a few seconds, Dean went from being relaxed and smiling about fond memories of growing up in Sioux Falls to gripping the arm rests as tightly as possible. Cas frowned and grabbed Dean's hand, forcing the other man to let go of the armrest between them. He quickly interlaced their fingers, causing Dean to look at him with a mixture of shock, incredulous-ness, and sheer terror. Though Cas attributed that last one to the fact that they had just hit a patch of air that caused them to pitch forward a bit. Dean's grip tightened on his hand as Castiel reached out and cupped the side of Dean's face, forcing the mechanic to look at him. Waiting a moment to be sure he had Dean's attention, Cas lowered his voice and said, "Dean. It's just a bit of turbulence. We're fine. Did you bring an mp3 player or anything?"

     Dean swallowed a few times before choking out, "No. My phone's a prepaid one without any of the fancy shit and I don't even own a laptop. Why?"

     Castiel sighed softly at his response and rested his forehead against Dean's, shutting his eyes and trying to think of something other than letting Dean lose himself in music that might help because obviously story time with Cas wasn't going to cut it. He heard Dean's breath catch and, strictly out of habit from dealing with Sariel's panic attacks, started to stroke the other man's cheek with his thumb. He heard a strained chuckle from Dean as the mechanic leaned into the touch. Cas opened his eyes to see Dean shifting so that he could bury his face in Cas's neck. It was an awkward position but Cas allowed the other man to bury his face in the right side of his neck.

     "You tell anyone we did this and I will make you regret it." Dean muttered, letting go of Cas's hand so that the other man could shift into a more comfortable position with his arm around Dean's shoulders. Cas merely chuckled, raked his fingers through Dean's hair, and began to hum a familiar tune. Dean couldn't place it because it sounded more like a lullaby version than an actual song but he knew he'd heard the song before. He focused on the sound of Cas' voice as he sung everything from Hey Jude to Dean Martin's Sway under his breath. The last thing Dean remembered thinking before he fell asleep was that Cas had a very nice singing voice.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     As everyone was waiting to deboard, Gabriel looked over at Sam to see the taller man watching him. When he'd been caught staring, Sam merely smiled shyly instead of immediately looking away like Gabriel had expected him to. Cocking his head to the side, Gabriel shot Sam a questioning look before he felt Sariel shove him from behind and heard her say, "Quit making googoo eyes at the Moose and get going. We need to stop in at the general store before we hit the cabin. Kev apparently forgot that snow was a thing in Montana and I wanna make stew tonight."

     "Yeah yeah yeah, I hear ya. No need to shove, pipsqueek." Gabriel said, rolling his eyes playfully and grabbing his carryon and Sariel's carryon from the overhead bin. She stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed her bag. The two of them made their way off the plane and into the terminal. Kevin and Sam followed close behind. The four of them waited until nearly the entire plane had disembarked before they spotted Cas and Dean. Apparently, Kevin wasn't the only one who had forgotten that snow was something to worry about in Montana seeing as Dean didn't have on a heavy jacket either.

     Sam rolled his eyes at his brother and said, "I told you to put it in your carry on. But no. You didn't think it'd be that cold when we landed."

     "Sh-shove it, b-b-bitch." Dean muttered, his teeth chattering.

     "Jerk."

     "Dumbasses." Sariel muttered, rolling her eyes and pulling Kevin and Dean towards the doors. "I swear, as God as my witness, you two are complete idiots even if you are practically geniuses."

     Gabriel chuckled at the surprised look on Dean's face and Kevin's complacent look, as if he'd heard this a thousand and one times before. Sam turned to him and asked, "Does she do that often to you guys too?"

     "Every day." Cas said, shaking his head and following behind Sariel; yelling for her to quit verbally abusing their guests as it wasn't polite.    

     Glancing up at Sam, Gabriel cleared his throat and said, "We better get inside. No use standing on the tarmac." Sam merely smiled at him and nodded. Gabriel shot him a confused look before leading the way inside with Sam following patiently after him.

     Once Sariel had made sure that Kevin and Dean had a warm sweater to wear until they could get to the general store near the cabin to get them actual coats, the group headed to pick up their luggage from the carousel. As the others were standing around waiting for their luggage, Gabriel headed over to the rental car stand to pick up their rental. He was just finishing up the paperwork when he felt a hand on his hip and a chest against his back. Looking up, he saw Sam looking over his shoulder at the paperwork.

     The taller man grinned down at him and innocently asked, "You almost done? We have our luggage and your sister's getting antsy."

     Rolling his eyes affectionately, Gabe said, "Yeah, I just have to sign this and they'll bring the Suburban around." Sam nodded and waited with him while the worker called the valet to tell them which car to bring around. It'd be a few minutes so Gabe and Sam moved off to the side so the guy running the rental place could deal with the next customer. Glancing up at the taller man, Gabe said, "You don't have to wait with me, Moose."

     "I know...I want to." Sam said, grinning down at the smaller man. Gabriel shot a disbelieving look at the younger Winchester causing the mountain of a man to roll his eyes and add, "Your sister kicked me out of the group to scheme with our brothers and her boyfriend."

     "Scheme? And Kevin's not her boyfriend. They're just friends. For now anyway."

     "Seriously? They were cuddling during our layover and making googoo eyes while on the plane." Gabriel just shrugged and Sam added, "Before I got exiled from the group, I overheard Dean and Sariel say something about trapping you and a certain law student under mistletoe. Either that or locking us in a closet. I'm not sure which plan they're going with quite yet."

     Groaning, Gabriel shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Sam. I'll talk to them about it and tell them to knock it off."

     "I'd rather you not." Sam admitted, picking at one of his nails and avoiding actually looking at Gabe. He was afraid that if he did, he'd lose what little nerve he had worked up on his way over here.

     "Why?"

     "Because then I won't be able to kiss you under the mistletoe." Sam said quietly, glancing at Gabriel sheepishly.

     To his credit, Gabe managed to resist his knee-jerk response of laughing at the absurdity that Sam, the law student who was actually going to be going places in life, might actually be insinuating that he wanted Gabe just as much as Gabe wanted him. Clearing his throat, Gabe fought back a blush and said, "You....You **want** to..."

     "Kiss you? Yeah. Kind of a lot, actually." Sam said, finally looking away from his nails and at Gabe. He smiled shyly and, for the life of him, Gabe couldn't find any sort of deception in the younger man's eyes.

     Gabe opened his mouth to respond when a voice from behind him said, "Mr. Ingraham? Your SUV's out front." Gabe turned around and took the key from the car rental guy with a terse nod.

     Sam chuckled softly and, slapping Gabe on the back, said, "C'mon, Gabe. Let’s get back to the group before your sister kills us both. We can talk about it later. Yeah?"

     "Oh we are so talking about this later, Moose. Preferably while curled up on the couch with hot chocolate with lots of fucking Baileys in it." Gabe muttered, dragging Sam, who had the biggest shit-eating grin Gabe had ever seen, back over to their siblings and Kevin.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Castiel wandered around the men's department as Sariel forced Dean, Kevin, and, oddly enough, Sam to try on different winter coats for her while he and Gabriel had been dismissed to entertain themselves. Gabriel had rolled his eyes and disappeared into the women's department to look for a gift for Sariel. Castiel had already gotten her a gift so he decided to just wander around until Sariel called him when they were done.

     Though the name might suggest otherwise, "The General Store" wasn't actually a small town jack-of-all-trades store but a fairly large group of stores owned and managed by their cousin Balthazar. Castiel meandered into the section of the men's department that Sariel had nicknamed "Lumberjack chic." He had been wandering around for a few minutes before a dark purple button up caught his eye. Frowning, Castiel walked over to the stack of shirts and picked one up. It was made from a heavy cotton flannel and, though it looked patternless from afar, he could make out a tight plaid pattern that consisted of threads a shade lighter and a shade darker than the shirt itself.

     "Damson." A familiar voice said from somewhere behind Castiel causing him to jolt in surprise. Looking around, he saw Balthazar standing behind him with an amused smirk. Motioning to the shirt in Castiel's hands, Balthazar added, "The color. It's called Damson. It's named after a plum of the same name and of a similar shade."

     "I see..." Castiel said, turning his attention back to the shirt.

     Balthazar chuckled softly before walking over and rifling through the pile for a moment. Before Castiel could ask what he was doing, Balthazar let out a triumphant 'ha' and pulled one out. Turning to Castiel, he held the shirt out towards his cousin, much like a toddler offering a parent a picture would, and said, "Here, this will fit that gorgeous green eyed man you waltzed in with and will make a perfect last minute Christmas gift. Though I suggest maybe picking up a navy or darker green Henley as well. Just so you don't seem cheap."

     Castiel hesitantly set down the shirt he was holding and took the one Balthazar was offering. Frowning slightly, he said, "Balthazar-"

     "No, Castiel. Sariel's already filled me in on your...situation with the mechanic and you're actually going to listen to me. Just this once." Balthazar interrupted, raising an eyebrow at his cousin and giving him a look that Cas interpreted as _you know Sariel's just going to make you do it anyway so let's just skip the step where you argue for half an hour with her before caving,_ though, in all reality, it could've just meant _don't argue with me on this, you will not win._

     Castiel looked down at the shirt in his hands and sighed softly. Something told him he may regret this later but he still found himself looking up at his cousin with what he knew was a resigned expression. Sighing, he said, "Fine. Just keep it under 100 dollars for Christ's sake."

     Balthazar smirked and, wrapping an arm around Castiel's shoulders and leading him further into the store, said, "Not a problem, cousin of mine."

     After about an hour and a half of wandering the men's department around with Balthazar, Castiel was standing at the register with a bottle of some cologne that Balthazar had shoved in his hands, the dark purple flannel button up, a navy Henley, a dark green ("Cassie, it's _forest_ green." "Cease referring to me by that nickname. Also, I do not care what the proper name is, Balthazar. It appears to be dark green to me so that is what I am going to refer to it as." "But it's **_forest_** green." "Balthazar, I will shove this shirt so far up-" "Ok ok, no need to get violent, Cassie." "Stop calling me that.") Henley, and a pair of thick flannel pajama pants in black with small pictures of various types of pies on them. Gabriel was standing next to him holding a bag of his own purchases. All of which, Castiel noted, were far too big to be for Gabriel himself.

     "Please tell me you have something for Kevin in there." Gabriel said, looking over at Castiel.

     "No. Sariel bought Kevin a gift from the three of us. Just as she bought a gift for Dean and Sam from the three of us." Castiel said, handing the sales clerk his credit card.

     "Right...What did we get them again?" Gabriel asked as they headed towards the exit to put their bags in the SUV before they met up with Sariel and the others.

     "We got Dean a bottle of his favorite whiskey and the complete series of Breaking Bad. For Sam we got him a new tablet, don't ask me which kind because you know I have no idea what any of that is, and a book about ancient mythology that Sariel said Sam had been eyeing for months. For Kevin we got tickets to an Aziz Ansari show and a game called Dark Souls. Apparently it's like this other game that Kevin has that he enjoys playing." Castiel said, opening the trunk.

     "Ok. What did you pick up?" Gabe asked, slipping his bag into his duffle.

     "Nothing of import." Castiel murmured, shoving the bag into his suitcase and zipping it shut. Gabriel rolled his eyes but didn't say anything as Castiel's phone went off. Castiel dug his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it to see a message from Sariel. Shutting the trunk, he turned to Gabriel and said, "They're going to meet us here."

     Gabe nodded and hopped in the passenger's seat while Cas slid into the driver's seat and started the car. Glancing over at his brother, Gabe asked, "What did you get Sariel for Christmas?"

     "A couple iTunes gift cards and a new camera that'll work with the lenses she already has since her last one decided to stop working. What did you decide on?"

     "I got her a gift card to Barnes and Nobel and I made her a coupon book." Gabriel said, frowning slightly and looking out the window. "I filled it with stuff like "one at-home spa day" and "one free movie night where we watch whatever you want." Little things like that. Things that I can do without spending a ton of cash." Gabriel sighed and, looking over at Castiel, said, "Makes me feel a bit cheap compared to your gifts."

     Castiel frowned and looked over at Gabriel. Cocking his head in confusion, he said, "You know Sariel will appreciate your gift much more than mine. She values non-material gestures so much more than material items. You know that I tend to opt for the practical gifts, because it's what I know will be useful to her and because I'm horrible at sentiment, while you go with the more heart-filled ones. She knows that as well. There's no need for you to feel cheap, Gabriel. She'll love what you got her."

     Gabriel shot his brother a small smile and turned on the radio to fill the silence as they waited for Sariel and the others to come back.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Sariel sighed softly as she dropped her duffle bag on the floor near the fireplace. Gabriel and Castiel were getting settled into the master bedroom while Sam and Dean were bickering over who got which bunk in the spare room. Kevin dropped onto the non-pullout couch and asked, "Do you want the pullout or the couch?"

     Turning to Kevin, Sariel smiled slightly and said, "I'll take the couch, you can have the pull out. It's surprisingly comfortable."

     "You sure?"

     "Yeah, the couch is actually good for my back. Promise."

     "If you say so." Kevin said, looking around the cabin curiously. "What do you guys do while you're here anyway?"

     "Gabe and I go on a baking spree the day after we arrive. Cas usually grades papers the first couple days. We play boardgames and just do family bonding time until the 24th when we get a tree from the tree farm down the road and decorate it while marathoning Christmas movies. After that, we just hang out until my birthday and new year's."

     "Sounds like fun. My mom and I tend to spend the holidays running around visiting family and friends. We never really get to just hang out other than on Christmas day itself."

     "Why don't we watch a movie? It's kinda late and Gabe'll start cooking dinner soon anyway."

     "Sure, why not?"

     "Sweet...Go pick one out, I'll go get us blankets and stuff." Sariel said, wandering off further into the cabin. Kevin chuckled and shook his head before standing and going to check out the wall of DVDs and VHS tapes. Glancing through the VHS tapes, he grinned and plucked out The Muppet's Christmas Carol and set to work figuring out the VHS player.

     A few minutes later, Sariel came back with a stack of pillows, sheets, blankets. Kevin raised an eyebrow and said, "Blanket fort?"

     "Epic blanket fort of epicness." Sariel said, grinning and dropping the stack of pillows and bed coverings on the couch. "We'll need to set up the pull out before I can start stringing up the sheets though. Did you get the movie set up?"

     "Of course, all we have to do is press play." Kevin said, watching as Sariel started pulling cushions off of the smaller couch. Reaching over, he helped her pull it out and, in only a few minutes, Sariel had the bed made and the sheets hung up to make the biggest blanket fort Kevin had ever seen. Crawling onto the bed, he sat cross-legged in the middle with the remote in his hand. Smiling gently, he watched as Sariel bounced from one end of the bed towards him with a Cheshire cat-like grin. Chuckling, he caught her around the waist when she bounced too far and almost fell off the side of the pullout. He pulled her into his lap and, giving her his best "don't lie to me" look, asked, "Did someone give you sugar?"

     "I may have snuck a sugar cookie or two when you were fiddling with the VHS." Sariel admitted, blushing lightly in embarrassment but shooting an unrepentant smile at her friend as she settled further into his lap.

     Laughing and shaking his head, Kevin wrapped his arms around Sariel in a loose hug and said, "You know how you get on sugar."

     "Yeah, I'll try not to fidget too much during the movie." Sariel said, turning to plant her back against his chest and prying the remote out of his hands. She tucked her head against the crook of his neck and pressed play.

     Kevin snorted, knowing that it was pretty much inevitable that Sariel was going to fidget now that she had sugar in her system, and unthinkingly pressed an affectionate kiss to the crown of her head. As he pulled away, he paused for a moment and wondered if he could just play it off as if he was head-butting her like a cat. He was halfway through an explanation in his head when she tilted her head up and pressed a kiss, gentle yet somehow still unyielding, to his jaw. For a brief moment, Kevin wondered if Sariel had possibly swiped a couple of Gabe's super-saturated rum balls from the kitchen along with the sugar cookies but, as she pulled back to look up at him, he saw through the painfully blank mask she was wearing and saw the cautiously hopeful look in her eyes. In that moment, he knew that he had been worrying over nothing since September and, as much as it pained him to admit, knew that his mother had been right. Ducking his head to hide an embarrassed blush, he pressed another kiss to Sariel's shoulder and whispered, "We're missing the movie."

     "I've seen this one before." Sariel whispered, looking down and toying with one of Kevin's hands. After a beat, she looked over at him and said, "We'll talk about...us later, yeah? After my brothers go to sleep."

     "Sounds like a good idea, mon petite ange." Kevin said with his best French accent, biting back a grin as Sariel groaned loudly and playfully rolled her eyes at him. He knew she hated it when anyone mentioned she was named after an angel but her reactions were just, well, he found the undeniably adorable. Sariel gently elbowed him in the stomach before turning her attention back to the movie and giggling softly before singing along with the characters as they sang the chorus of "Scrooge."

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Dean finished unpacking his clothes into the dresser as Sam lounged about on the bottom bunk. He wasn't sure how but he'd somehow managed to lose the game of rock-paper-scissors to see who was able to claim the bottom bunk as their own. Turning around, he frowned when he saw Sam watching him. "Dude. What?"

     "You unpacked?"

     "I don't plan on living out of a suitcase for the next three weeks."

     "You never unpack. It took you a month to unpack when we first moved to Bobby's."

     "What are you implying, Sammy?"

     "I'm implying that you'd rather unpack three weeks’ worth of clothing within maybe an hour of being here than spend time out there-" He motioned to the closed door leading to the hallway, "-talking to Castiel."

     "I don't know what you're talking about Sammy." Dean said, huffing softly and turning back around to check that the gifts they'd bought for the Ingrahams and Kevin were safely tucked away at the bottom of the armoire. If he was blushing, well, Sammy didn't need to know that.

     "Right. Seriously, I am your little brother, Dean, but I'm not blind. Nor deaf, nor dumb. You cannot think that I didn't notice the fact that whenever Cas comes in with his car you fall over yourself trying to service him." Sam smirked as Dean shot him a very heated _shut the hell up, Sammy_ look. Sitting up, he crossed his arms and said, "I also know that you picked up that black waistcoat, white shirt, dark blue tie, that tan trench coat today for him as a Christmas gift"

     "What does that prove? Other than I wanted to get him something." Dean said, turning around and leaning against the dresser.

     Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother and said, "Dean, you're besotted. Don't even deny it, man. We all saw you on the jet up. Just...Don't start to doubt yourself like you did with Linus. And Benny. And Aaron. And Ajay. And pretty much every guy you've ever liked in the history of forever."

     "Oh Jesus Christ, how did you even-"

     "I'm your little brother, Dean. It's in the job description to be a nosey little shit."

     "I hate you." Dean said, covering his face and groaning slightly as Sam barked out a laugh and hauled himself up off the bed.

     "One, no you don't. Two, it's only the 16th and we have three more weeks here so you better learn to relax. Now, let’s go see what Gabe's cooking because I, for one, am starving." Sam said, grabbing his brother by the shoulders and steering him towards the door.

     The two Winchesters made their way through the cabin, past the blanket fort in the living room, and into the kitchen. Dean allowed himself to be manhandled into a seat by his brother only to have the other man abandon him to help Gabe get something out of a tall cabinet. Castiel looked over at Dean and asked, "How are you feeling?"

     "Good. I'm good. Um...Thanks. For the plane." Dean said, looking anywhere but at Cas.

     Castiel smiled slightly and said, "It's no problem. It reminded me of when Sariel was a baby actually."

     "Oh c'mon, I wasn't that bad." Dean said, pouting and looking over at Cas.

     "No, you were not. I was actually referring to the fact that I used to have to sing classic rock songs to Sariel to get her to sleep. She particularly enjoyed Kansas and the Beatles."

     "The Beatles?"

     "Hey Jude in particular. Which Cassie is very good at singing." Gabriel said, walking over and handing Castiel a fork before adding "Taste this, something's missing and Sam doesn't know what it's supposed to taste like."

     Cas rolled his eyes and, instead of correcting his brother about his name for the hundredth time, merely ate the piece of stew beef Gabe was shoving in his face. Frowning slightly as he chewed, he tapped the fork against his finger and, after swallowing, he looked up at Gabriel and said, "It needs a little more cumin. Other than that, it tastes fine." Gabe nodded and headed back over to the stove where Sam was standing.

     Dean watched Cas for a moment, wondering when exactly watching another person eat had become so fucking erotic. He eyed the other man for a moment and noted that he had stubble that he hadn't noticed earlier on the plane. Usually, Cas was clean-shaven whenever he came into Turner's and it was a little disconcerting to see the other man with a five o'clock shadow. Who knew he had a stubble kink? Clearing his throat, Dean looked down at the table and asked, "What traditions to y'all have anyway?"

     "Our main traditions revolve around the fact that Sariel is quite bossy." Castiel said, smiling slightly and taking a sip of his beer. Shaking his head fondly, he looked at Dean and said, "She insists that we wait until the morning of 24th to get our tree and decorate it that night. A few days before we'll pull out the decorations and see what's survived the year and what hasn't. We fix what can be fixed and make new ones to replace whatever got broken or damaged beyond repair. We'll do that this weekend. Until then, I'm sure Sariel will drag us into marathoning either Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, possibly both. Gabe'll probably start a snowball fight or two while we're out shoveling the sidewalk and gathering wood for the fireplace."

     "You'll make loads of your spiked hot cocoa for us." Sariel said, walking through the kitchen towards the fridge; intent on getting herself and Kevin a soda out of the fridge. She smirked when Dean jumped and whipped his head around to look at her. In recompense for startling him, she held out a bottle of beer with a small smile.

     "Which you will finally be able to drink without having Gabe sneak it to you." Castiel said, smirking slightly as Dean accepted the bottle and cracked it open. Sariel shrugged and grabbed two bottles of soda from the bottom shelf before disappearing back into the living room. Castiel watched her walk out of the kitchen before turning his attention back to dean. "Anyway. Outside of the tree, the decorations, and the movie marathons, we don't really have any family traditions. What about you and Sam?"

     "We usually just go to our Uncle Bobby's house for the week of Christmas and New Year's. There's never really been any traditions per say." Dean said, shrugging a shoulder and taking a sip of his beer.

     Castiel nodded and was about to say something when he heard a crash come from the living room. Frowning and sharing a look with Gabe, he stood up and made his way to the living room with Dean trailing shortly behind him. A groan came from the blanket fort and he glanced at Dean, who gave him a really confused look. Turning back to the fort, he said, "Sariel? Kevin? Are you two okay?"

     When no answer came, Castiel carefully lifted the corner of one of the sheets only to see Kevin on the floor in the fetal position and groaning while Sariel was lying on the pull out with her face buried in a pillow to muffle her laughter. Dean stuck his head in beside Cas, took one look at the two of them, and asked, "You accidently hit him in the crotch, didn't you?"

     Castiel watched as Sariel lifted her head, tears of laughter streaming down her face, and nodded. She took a breath to steady herself only to burst into another fit of giggles as Kevin groaned again. Castiel looked down at the younger man and asked, "Are you going to be alright, Kevin?"

     "I think so but, Jesus Christ, this is worse than the time she nailed me with the fucking softball." Kevin said, resting his head against the cool stone of the fireplace hearth. Castiel watched as his sister sobered almost instantly and, after wiping away the tears of laughter, crawled over to the edge of the pull out to reach out and stroke his hair while murmuring a soft but sincere apology. Castiel shared a look with Dean before they both backed up and let the sheet fall back in place and headed back to the kitchen.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     A few hours after Castiel had dragged himself out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen to start breakfast, Gabe found himself lying in the middle of the king sized bed just staring at the ceiling and wondering if there would be any time during this vacation that his siblings weren't going to cockblock him. For the past week he'd been trying to find some alone time with Sam only to have Sariel or Castiel interrupt them or insist on tagging along. Now, for the first time in all the years he and his siblings had been coming here, he found himself hating the fact that the cabin was so small. Even when he tried to take a walk with Sam, Sariel decided to tag along to scope out the Christmas trees. He knew that Cas wasn't intentionally cockblocking him but he had a feeling that Sariel was. Though, he managed to pay Sariel back a few times when she and Kevin had been cuddling on the couch by calling her into the kitchen to help him with baking.

     Sighing, the eldest Ingraham covered his eyes with his arm and contemplated going back to sleep when he heard the bedroom door open and close. He half expected Sariel to jump on his stomach like she had as a child but instead felt the bed dip beside him and felt a large hand close around his wrist and gently pry it away from his face. Blinking, he looked up to see Sam smiling down at him. Smiling tiredly, Gabe said, "Hey there, handsome. You get roped into waking me up?"

     "More like Sariel said if I didn't she'd end up cracking your ribs again by accident." Sam said, smirking as the smaller man winced and rubbed his side as he remembered the pain of having two of his ribs bruised from having his sister forget she wasn't five anymore and bounce on his chest with more force than she meant to.

     "Ah, yes, I'd rather not spend the day before Christmas Eve in the ER." Gabe said, sitting up and letting the blankets pool around his waist; forgetting that he was bare from the waist up. He saw Sam frown and eye his shoulder curiously. Looking down, he remembered that Sam hadn't seen his tattoo yet considering he had been wearing long sleeved shirts any time he'd been outside of the bedroom the entire time they'd been here. Looking up at Sam, he smirked and said, "We all have them. We got them when Sariel graduated high school. Mine are kinda chocolate and whisky colored as you can see. Castiel's are this blue-black that remind us all of the feathers of a male boat-tailed grackle and Sariel's are this odd red-black color that you'd think would clash with her skin tone since she's so tan compared to the rest of us but actually looks really good."

     "Can I see the rest?" Sam asked, looking at the tips of the feathers curiously.

     "Sure." Gabe said, shrugging a shoulder and turning around to face the door. He waited and, when he was just about to ask Sam if there was something wrong, he felt the other man lightly tracing the intricate details of the feathers causing Gabe to have to suppress a shiver of arousal. He glanced down at his lap and tried to will his burgeoning erection away. He tried every trick he knew but, as Sam continued to lightly trace his wings, each and every trick failed. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "S-Sam? Can you...uh...I think maybe you should stop."

     Sam snatched his hand back as if he'd been burned and said, "Sorry. I should've asked to touch first."

     "No, that part was fine. I...I liked that. Uh, maybe a little too much." Gabe admitted, chuckling softly and looking sheepishly over his shoulder at Sam. The younger Winchester blinked at him for a moment before a smirk slide over his features. Gabe raised a questioning eyebrow at him as the other man climbed onto the bed and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. Gabe would later swear that his brain short circuited as soon as Sam's lips pressed against his and the taller man began to wrap himself around the eldest Ingraham.

     After a beat, Sam pulled back to look curiously down at Gabe; who was still staring at him with a blank but slightly shocked expression. Cocking his head and resting his hands on Gabe's hips, Sam asked, "You ok there, Gabe?"

     "Yeah....just...wondering when my sister or brother is going to burst in because you're taking so long to "wake me up"." Gabe said, adding the appropriate air quotes before smiling up at Sam and running his fingers through the other man's hair. Sam chuckled softly and leaned down to give Gabe another, more ardent, kiss. Gabe hummed softly and nipped at Sam's bottom lip causing the other man to gasp just long enough for Gabe to move from kissing him on the lips to kissing along his jaw.

     Sam chuckled softly and tilted his head to allow Gabe better access to his neck without having the smaller man hurt himself. As Gabe attempted to place a hickey on his jaw, Sam ran his fingers lightly over Gabe's stomach to thread his fingers through the sparse hair of the older man's happy trail. Gabe wiggled his hips slightly and inched closer to Sam as he continued to press kisses along the larger man's jaw. Sam hummed softly and turned his head to capture Gabe's lips as he palmed the older man through his pajama bottoms. Gabe gasped and arched into Sam's touch causing the younger man to wrap his free arm around Gabe's middle and pull him back tightly against his chest without breaking the kiss and while continuing to stroke Gabe.

     Both of them were so caught up in the other that neither man registered the door opening until they heard a surprised gasp and Sariel's voice yell, at an entirely unholy octave, "FUCKING HELL" before they heard the door being slammed shut again. Pulling away from each other, they shared a brief moment of embarrassment before they both panicked and clumsily tried to jump off the bed. Gabe ended up face-planting in to the carpet after his foot got caught in the blanket, the pain effectively killing whatever erection he may have had left after being caught by his baby sister, before he hauled himself up and went running after Sariel with Sam close behind.

     They passed Dean coming out of the spare room with a confused look on his face. Dean caught Sam by the arm while Gabe continued down the hall. Sam looked at his brother with a slightly panicked _what could you possibly want now?_ look and asked, "What?"

     "Dude, what's going on? I heard Sariel scream like she'd just seen a dead body."

     "Not a dead body." Sam said, blushing and looking back down the hall as he saw Gabe and Sariel running between the living room and the kitchen.

     "Then what happened?" Dean asked, frowning.

     Sam sighed aggravatedly, wanting nothing more than to go help Gabe and calm Sariel down. Turning to his brother, he schooled his features into the best bitchface he could manage and hissed, "She walked in on me and Gabe making out when I may or may not have had my hand on his dick, about to jack him off." The look of pure shock on Dean's face was worth the small amount of embarrassment he felt as he turned his back on his brother and jogged to the end of the hallway to look into the living room where Sariel and Gabe were jumping over the furniture like hyperactive greyhounds hurdling fences.

     Castiel stepped out of the kitchen and stood next to Sam in the hallway, which seemed to be the one safe place as Kevin almost got a foot to the face as Sariel hurdled the couch to avoid Gabe's reach, and his siblings run through the main part of the cabin as if they'd done this a thousand and one times. Turning his attention to the taller man, Cas took a sip of his coffee and asked, "What did she see this time?"

     "What?"

     "The last time they went at it like this, she was seventeen walked in on Gabe and Kali having angry break-up sex in the kitchen at the condo. I'm assuming that she witnessed something similar just now. If her screaming profanity and then running into the living room is any indication."

     "Something like that." Sam said, eyeing Castiel cautiously. "You're taking this...surprisingly well."

     Cas merely shrugged and said, "I know that Gabriel has been pining after you since you first came into the shop during your freshman year. Sariel and I were betting on when you two would get together."

     "Who won?" Sam asked, cocking his head to the side and glancing over when he heard Sariel screech as Gabriel finally tackled her onto the couch.

     "I did. I said it'd be before Christmas while she said it would take at least until the 28th." Castiel said, taking a sip of his coffee. Turning to his siblings, he said, "Gabriel, let Sariel up. Sariel, please stop screaming, you were the one who didn't knock."

     Gabriel shot a heated glare at Castiel before standing up and allowing Sariel to sit up. She grinned and nudged him with her foot causing the eldest Ingraham to roll his eyes and ruffle her hair. Smirking, she asked, "So...is Cas being banished to the spare room with Dean now or...?" Sam blushed as Gabriel rolled his eyes and headed back to the master bedroom to get changed into actual clothes.

     Dean was still standing in the doorway of the spare room when Gabriel passed. Pausing for a moment in front of him, Gabriel looked at the eldest Winchester and asked, "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

     "You...and Sam..." Dean said, blinking and looking down at Gabriel.

     Gabriel sighed softly and, with a nod, said, "Yeah. Me and Sam."

     "About damn time." Dean said, seemingly shaking off whatever shock he'd been experiencing and playfully punching Gabe in the shoulder. Smirking, he said, "I'd give you the "you hurt him, I'll kill you" speech but you probably already know that one."

     Chuckling softly, Gabe nodded and said, "Yeah, I've had to give that speech a few times." He sobered slightly before he looked seriously at Dean and said, "Don't worry, Dean-o. I'd never intentionally hurt Sam. And I'll do my damnedest not to unintentionally hurt him either."

     "Good." Dean said, smiling warmly at Gabe and slapping him on the shoulder before passing him and heading down the hall.

     Gabe turned and called, "I expect the same from you with Cas." Dean paused for a moment, looking back at Gabe curiously. Gabe merely gave him a knowing look causing the eldest Winchester to nod curtly before continuing down the hall.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Kevin looked over at Sariel as Gabriel headed down the hallway and Castiel returned to the kitchen with Sam trailing behind. She glanced over at him and smiled slightly before getting up and straightening her shirt, which had gotten rumpled when she was wrestling with her brother. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Want to go for a walk?"

     "Sure. We can pick out a tree to be cut down tomorrow." Kevin said, leaning over to the hearth and grabbing his boots. He and Sariel quickly donned their boots and winter jackets. Before they left, Sariel let Castiel know they were going on a walk before dragging Kevin out of the cabin. They wandered down the main road towards the tree farm run by Sariel's cousins Ariel, Sofiel, and Cathetel. A few minutes in silence until Kevin looked over at Sariel and asked, "Why was your brother chasing you around this morning?"

     "I walked in on him and Sam making out and Sam had his hand on Gabe's dick." Sariel said bluntly, looking over at Kevin with an _I am scarred for life and have no clue how to erase that image from my mind_ look causing Kevin to snort and shake his head. Sariel chuckled softly and looked around at the snowy Montana landscape. "I used to love coming up here as a kid." Sariel said, looking over at Kevin again. "Especially during the summers when Gabe, Cas, and I would go down to the lake and swim."

     "Who owns the cabin? You mentioned it being in the family."

     "Gabe's biological father owns it. He lives here most of the year but he spends Christmas and New Year's with his wife's family. Or on a Caribbean cruise."

     "Biological father?"

     "Yeah. Gabe and Castiel are adopted. Gabe's real surname should be Shurley but...he chose to stick with Ingraham. I asked why and he said that Chuck may be his dad but he didn't raise him and even though my mom and dad were really shitty to him after he came out, they still took him in and that had to count for something. Castiel's the one with the odd case. His parents, the Novaks, had twins but couldn't afford to keep both so they had to give one up. It's odd to watch Castiel interact with Jimmy. They're so different. I mean, the guy lives out in Pontiac with his wife and kid and sells ad slots on AM radio for a living."

     "That is very different than Castiel. Do you think it has to do with how he was raised?"

     "Maybe? Who knows?" Sariel said, shrugging a shoulder. "All I know about their biological families are that Jimmy's way too normal for my tastes and Chuck taught me how to be a better writer whenever I'd come up here during the summers."

     Kevin smiled slightly and looked down at the snow covered dirt road as they continued to walk, letting their conversation lapse into an easy silence. Looking up, he grabbed Sariel's hand and pulled her closer to him as a snow plough traveled down the road. She smiled up at him and interlaced their fingers as they continued on down the road at an easy pace. They'd gone about another mile and a half when they reached the tree farm. Turning into the drive way, they walked until they saw Ariel, a mountain of a man who would make even Sam look tiny in comparison, hefting a chainsaw onto his shoulder.

     "Ari!" Sariel called out, lifting her free hand to wave. Her cousin turned towards her and smiled brightly, waving back with his free hand and waiting to speak until they were closer.

     "Sari, I see you dragged your boyfriend along to help pick out which tree you're going to cut down tomorrow." He said, giving her a teasing smile to which she merely rolled her eyes playfully.

     "Yeah, we needed to get out of the cabin for a while and I suggested we pick it out today to save on time tomorrow morning." Kevin said, smiling kindly at the other man. Chuckling, Ari nodded and shifted the chainsaw on his shoulder.

     "The west patch has some very nice mid-sized ones that should fit nicely in the picture window of the cabin." Ariel said, gesturing to the patch of trees on their left.

     "Thanks, Ari. We'll check there first." Sariel said, pulling Kevin towards the patch of trees. Chuckling, Ariel waved and headed towards the east patch. Turning her attention to Kevin, Sariel smiled slightly and said, "You know...we never did get to talk about us..."

     "I just figured that since everyone in our families already think we're dating and we like each other that you wouldn't mind me responding to your family calling me your boyfriend." Kevin said, frowning slightly.

     Giggling, Sariel pecked Kevin on the cheek and said, "I don't mind. I'm just glad we're on the same page without having to do a long and complicated dtr discussion." Kevin grinned and, letting go of Sariel's hand, wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they wandered through the pines and firs.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Dean wondered what the hell possessed him to agree to go traipsing out into the snow with Sariel at ass o'clock in the morning on Christmas Eve to get a damn tree. He rubbed his face as they walked towards the "office" of the tree farm only to be stopped by a man walking out of the trees on their right. Dean blinked and rubbed his eyes to make sure that he had just seen a man who was probably a good six inches taller than his brother and at least twice as wide pick Sariel up, spin her around, and hug her tightly before setting her back down.

     "Dean, this is my cousin Ari. Ari, this is Dean." Sariel said, stepping aside as Ari held out his hand.

     "It is a pleasure to meet you, Dean. Castiel has mentioned you often." Ari said, grinning when Dean looked at him in surprise as he shook his hand.

     "Ari, quit messing with the poor guy. It's not even light outside yet and he hasn't had his coffee yet." Sariel said, rolling her eyes and lightly punching the mountain man's arm.

     "Aw, you ruin all my fun, Sari. You know I like teasing Cassie's suitors."

     "Everyone does and the only one who could actually bite back was Meg and we both know how that one ended."

     "I still do not know what she saw in that salesman."

     "Literally no one knows. All I know is that Cas was gonna propose and then poof, Meg was moving to New York to be with some big shot guy in advertising with a British accent and leaving my brother in Stanford with a broken heart, a useless engagement ring, and a Masters’ thesis to finish. Fuck if I know where the logic is in that one." Sariel said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. Sighing softly, she shook her head and said, "But, bitching about Meg isn't why I'm here."

     "Of course. You're here to pick up the Grand Fir you and your beau picked out yesterday."

     "Yes, sir."

     "You two walked here, didn't you?"

     "Yeah...

     "I'll give you a ride back in the truck then. It'll be easier to set the tree up myself then trust it to Gabriel and Castiel."

     "Danke, Ari." Sariel said, grinning brightly at her cousin as he walked off towards the west patch. The other man waved it off and continued on his way, leaving Sariel and Dean standing in the middle of the driveway.

     "Shouldn't we, I don't know, show him where it's at?" Dean asked, looking over at Sariel curiously.

     "Oh he knows which one it is. I showed it to him yesterday and he marked it with a ribbon." Sariel said, waving her hand as if she were shooing a fly before looking up at Dean. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that you know about Meg to my brother. He's still quite sensitive about it."

     "I wasn't going to. I figured it was something I wasn't supposed to know anyway." Dean said, shrugging a shoulder.

     "You're...You're actually really good for my brother. I didn't think you were going to have the influence on him that you did." Sariel admitted, looking over at Dean.

     "I have no idea what you're talking about." Dean said, looking over at her with a raised eyebrow.

     Sariel rolled her eyes and said, "Sam said you'd be a horse's ass about anything to do with feelings and whatever you felt was a chick flick moment." Sighing softly, Sariel looked out at the west patch of trees and continued, in a much softer tone, "What I mean is that Cas...Cas has been...well...not himself since Meg up and left. He's been more reserved and had this...heaviness and sadness that just kinda stuck with him. But....when he's around you, I feel like I have the old Cas back. The one who cared about other things besides his work. The one who would sing along with the radio with me and watch shitty old movies because we couldn't sleep. The one who made pancakes with cartoon characters on them with me at two in the morning when neither of us could sleep and we were feeling simultaneously hungry and creative. The one who danced around the living room for hours with me trying to teach me how to waltz so I wouldn't look like an idiot in front of the kids in my gym class. The brother who marathoned the extended editions of Lord of the Rings with me when I had a broken leg and couldn't get out of bed. The one who spent hours and hours in countless dress shops helping me find just the right dress for all the school dances my parents didn't want me to attend. The one who calmed my fears about wanting to kiss a girl and assured me that it was normal to feel that way even though all my life I'd been told that those who felt that way were an abomination. The one who held me tight and gently rocked me through my first panic attack, softly singing classic rock songs to keep me grounded. The one who stroked my hair and murmured words of encouragement and love as I cried into his shoulder after the first time our parents hit me for talking back as a teenager. The one who hid who he was and stayed behind to raise me to believe in things other than hatred and bigotry." Turning to Dean, she smiled sadly and said, "Basically, thank you for giving me my big brother back. I missed him more than he'll ever know."

     Blinking back the tears threatening to form in his eyes, Dean swallowed the lump in his throat and smiled warmly at Sariel. Taking a deep breath, he nudged her shoulder and said, "It's my pleasure, kiddo."

     Sariel smiled and ducked her head for a moment before looking back up at him with a no-nonsense expression. Straightening her back, she looked him dead in the eye and said, "And you better fucking take care of him, Dean Winchester, or so help me God I will hunt you down and do things to you that will make medieval torture feel like you're sitting on a cloud in comparison."

     Dean leaned away from her for a moment and said, "I think this is the first time I've been threatened by the younger sibling more harshly than I was by the older sibling."

     Sariel smiled sweetly and said, "I'm scarier than Gabe anyway." After a beat, she added, "At least on this plane of existence."

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Sam wandered out of his room around eight to find Kevin and Gabriel playing Gauntlet Legends on Sariel's old Nintendo 64. Castiel curled up on the other sofa reading a book and drinking coffee. Dean and Sariel were seated on the floor next to the tree debating which tree skirt looked the best. Castiel looked up from his book and noticed Sam standing in the hallway looking in confusion at the scene laid out before him.

     "Coffee's in the kitchen. And don't ask why your brother and my sister are arguing over the tree skirt, none of us have even figured out what language they're talking in." Castiel said motioning to the kitchen and then to the pair seated on the floor.

     "I think it's Klingon." Kevin said, not looking away from his game.

     "Oh God, she knows Klingon too?" Sam said, looking over at Sariel in mock horror. Both Dean and Sariel flipped him off without breaking their conversation.

     "That's mildly worrisome." Castiel said, frowning slightly.

     "I think it was a bad idea to let them pick up the tree themselves. They bonded over their shared nerd-kinks." Sam joked, grinning as both Dean and Sariel turned to him with the bitchiest bitchfaces he'd seen out of either of them before they turned back around and continued their conversation. Biting back a smile, Sam shook his head and headed into the kitchen to fix himself some coffee and something to eat.

     The day passed kinda slowly but not in a bad way. The past couple days had been a little crazy, even by his standards, and Sam enjoyed just lounging in the living room with his brother, Kevin, and the Ingraham siblings. Castiel spent his day curled up on the couch reading and, once he was done arguing with Sariel in Klingon, Dean joined Cas on the couch while Sariel plopped herself down on the floor between Kevin's legs. Sam managed to snag the free seat beside Gabriel before Dean and Sariel were done arguing and spent his time absentmindedly tracing the wings on Gabriel's back.

     After lunch, Sariel roped all of them into dragging the decorations back out to put the finishing touches on them before they were to be put them up that night. Sam smiled as he watched his brother carefully painted a replica of his Impala on a rectangular salt-dough ornament. Looking down at his own snow globe shaped ornament, Sam decided to carefully paint stick figures representing each of them. He may have the artistic talent of a five year old but he would at least try to commemorate this Christmas. Gabe teased him quietly while he painted candy canes on a present shaped ornament. Sariel was off in her own little world, carefully painting small portraits of all of them on oval ornaments. Kevin decided to paint various runes from The Elder Scrolls on his while Cas decided to put various quotes on his in calligraphy script.

     Once they were done, Dean and Sariel gathered Christmas movies to marathon while Kevin sat down on the extended portion of the L-shaped couch and waited for Sariel to join him. Sam and Gabriel transferred some of the Christmas cookies from their Tupperware containers to a serving platter while Castiel made them all hot chocolate. Sam glanced over at Castiel before he turned to Gabriel with a small smile.

     The older man looked over at him and cocked his eyebrow questioningly, wondering why the younger Winchester was grinning like the cat who caught the canary. He was mildly surprised when Sam leaned over and pressed a quick and gentle kiss to his lips before backing away and taking the plate of cookies into the living room. Gabe stood there in shock for a moment. That had been the first time since Sariel had walked in on them that Sam had shown any sign of affection. He heard Castiel snicker softly and turned to his brother with a frown.

     Castiel smiled and, handing Gabe a mug of hot cocoa with a thick layer of marshmallows and a candy cane stuck into it as a stir stick, said, "You two do make a rather...adorable couple."

     Gabe rolled his eyes and said, "You're becoming as bad as Sariel, you know."

     "I will never get as bad as Sariel. She is the master matchmaker and we should fear her powers." he replied in the most monotone voice that Gabriel had ever heard from his brother. The eldest Ingraham rolled his eyes and took a sip of his cocoa to save himself from having to reply since there really wasn't a way he could argue with that particular assessment of their sister. Cas smiled and picked up a tall mug with a moose on it and, handing it to Gabe, said, "This one is Sam's. Could you tell Sariel to come in here and get her's and Kevin's?"

     Taking the moose mug, Gabriel nodded and headed into the living room. Dean was crouched down in front of the sound system fiddling with the wires while Kevin and Sariel were curled around each other on the end of the L shaped couch while Sam was tucked into the corner of the L-shaped couch with his legs stretched out onto the short end. Gabe settled himself into the open seat between to Sam and Sariel. After handing Sam the moose mug, Gabe turned to Sariel and said, "Coco's done. Cas said you have to get your's and your boyfriend's mugs."

     Sariel groaned softly before dragging herself out of Kevin's embrace and muttering about the things she does for the people she loves as she shuffled into the kitchen. Gabe shot her a confused look as she passed him on her way to the kitchen. Sariel either didn't catch it or ignored him so he turned to Kevin and raised an eyebrow at the younger man. Kevin sighed softly and said, "We...uh...had a...a dtr conversation when we went to pick out the tree."

     "So...you and Sariel....are dating?"

     "Yes." Kevin said, looking up at Gabe and tilting his chin up slightly.

     "Just know that if you hurt her, you've got four people gunning for you." Dean said, standing up and wiping his hands off on his jeans.

     "Four?" Gabe said, looking over at Dean with a _what are you talking about_ look.

     Dean rolled his eyes and said, "Seriously, man? Sam practically adopted her as our younger sister at the beginning of the semester and she's been over to our apartment so much to raid Sam's collection of old books that there were times during the semester that I forgot she didn't actually live with us. She grew on me. Like a mushroom."

     "Glad to know I've upgraded from a wart to a mushroom now, Dean." Sariel said, walking in from the kitchen with a small smile. Settling back in between her boyfriend and Gabriel, Sariel looked around at them and said, "Stop harassing Kevin, you can do that after the holidays."

     Kevin snorted softly and said, "Thanks, Sari." He smiled slightly when Sariel pecked him on the cheek before settling into his side and taking a sip of her cocoa. Gabriel smiled softly at their interaction and settled into Sam's side while Dean disappeared into the kitchen; ruffling both Sam and Sariel’s hair on his way past.

~*~*~*~*~*

 

     Castiel looked up when he felt a hand between his shoulder blades and smiled slightly when he saw Dean looking over his shoulder at the small pot of cocoa he was making. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Can I help you?"

     "Just wondering what a man has to do to get a cup of cocoa." Dean said, winking flirtatiously and sliding his hand down Castiel's back to rest on his lower back.

     Castiel blushed even as his eyebrows were threatening to disappear into his hairline. Clearing his throat, he said, "I...I just ran out since I don't make it in large batches. But...uh....our's should be done shortly."

     Smiling, Dean backed off and leaned against the counter next to the stove; something that Castiel was silently glad for since he was always distracted by the other man. Castiel looked back down at the cocoa and stirred it to keep it from bubbling too fast. He and Gabriel had spent most of their childhood perfecting this recipe and, for some unknown reason, he was the only one who could make it correctly. Not that it was hard, it just took patience; which was something that Gabriel didn't have unless it involved baking. Neither of them had shared the recipe with Sariel yet and she seemed content with that for now.

     They stood in silence for a moment until Dean said, "Sam told me that you and your siblings all have matching tattoos."

     Castiel glanced over at Dean and, nodding slightly, said, "Yes. We got them after Sariel graduated high school and moved in with Gabriel and me. It was odd as a 29 year old professor getting a tattoo that large but it made Sariel happy."

     "Sariel talked to me about something this morning...when we were picking up the tree." Dean said, looking over at Castiel cautiously.

     "That sounds like it does not bode well for me." Castiel joked, pulling the cocoa off of the heat and stirring in half a cup of dark chocolate milk before putting it back on the heat and heating it through. Dean opened his mouth to retaliate when he heard Sariel yelling for them to hurry the hell up and get into the living room. Chuckling softly, Castiel rationed the cocoa out into two mugs and, after topping them with some mini marshmallows and sticking a candy cane in each, handed one of them to Dean. He tilted his head towards the doorway and said, "C'mon, don't want to keep princess Sariel waiting."

     Dean smiled slightly and motioned for Castiel to head out in front of him. Castiel nodded slightly and headed into the living room with his mug in hand. They'd just crossed the threshold into the living room when Sam stopped them and pointed above their heads. Sharing a confused look with Dean, Castiel glanced above their heads to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging above the doorway they were currently standing in.

     "That was not up there when I went into the kitchen." Dean said, his voice oddly devoid of any emotion causing Castiel to shoot him a curious look.

     "You know the rules, Cassie." Gabriel said, smirking slightly from his position on the couch next to Sam.

     Castiel rolled his eyes and said, "Gabriel, for the last time, cease calling me by that horrid moniker. I don't know why you insist on referring to me by a name that I despise."

     Gabriel shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm your older brother, I'm supposed to pick on you. Stop avoiding the fact that you're standing under the mistletoe with Captain Bowlegs over there."

     Castiel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand, and contemplated just heading to the bedroom and locking himself in there for the night. Rationally he knew that it would be a very bad idea to do this since it would most definitely give away to Dean that he had feelings for the man. Or it would give him the idea that he was a homophobe. He couldn't decide which was worse; having the guy who made him feel anything other than numbness think that he hated him or know that he had feelings for him.

     "Castiel?" Sariel said, causing him to look up at his sister. She looked a bit embarrassed as she said, "You don't have to if you don't want. Let's just watch the movies, yeah?"

     Castiel looked at her for a moment before he realized she thought he was hesitating because he still had feelings for Meg. He hadn't realized that, because he rarely spoke of his ex, that Sariel had no idea that he'd dealt with the pain and anger from that break up years ago. Shaking his head, he turned to Dean and saw that the other man was watching him closely. Sighing, Castiel rolled his eyes and reached out to cup the back of Dean's head. He thought he saw Dean smirk slightly before he let his eyes slide shut and covered the other man's lips with his own.

     It was chaste as far as mistletoe kisses go. Just a barely there pressing together of their lips but it was enough for Castiel to realize that kissing Dean Winchester was a very bad idea that should have been avoided at all costs. Mostly because it made him realize that not only was he madly head over heels for the mechanic but also because it made Castiel realize that a) the other man was very talented at making even the most chaste of kisses feel like a raunchy makeout session and b) his kiss had to be more addictive than heroine.

     Pulling back, he looked at Dean for a moment before heading into the living room and sitting down on the smaller sofa with his legs propped up on the coffee table. He felt Sariel watching him carefully as Dean followed after him and sat down next to him. He glanced over at her and gave her an _I kissed him, would you start the movie already?_ look while taking a sip of his cocoa. She rolled her eyes and clicked the play button. Settling into the couch, Castiel focused his attention on the movie and not the man seated next to him. Well, he tried to at least. It was more difficult than he thought to not watch Dean smile and laugh at the movies along with the others.

~*~*~*~*~*

     Rolling over, Sariel reached out for Kevin but frowned when she only felt the mattress. Sighing softly, she cracked her eye open and glanced at the clock on the VCR; which blinked 10:45 at her in neon green numerals. Shutting her eyes, she listened closely to see if he was in the bathroom or something and smiled slightly when she heard him moving around in the kitchen. Rolling off of the pullout bed, she padded silently around the couches, past the tree and all the presents tucked underneath, and into the kitchen to see Kevin standing in front of the oven. Quickly crossing the room while carefully avoiding the squeaky floorboards, she hopped up to sit on the counter close to, but still a safe distance from, the stove and said, "Hello, love."

     Kevin glanced over at her and, shutting the oven door again, said, "I thought you were still asleep."

     "Nah. I reached over to cuddle with you and you were gone." Sariel said, picking at a piece of lint on Kevin's tee.

     "I'm sorry. I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed before we woke up the others and had to feed them too." Kevin said, moving to stand between her legs.

     "Mmm, what did you make?" She asked, running her fingers through his hair and smiling when he placed his hands on her hips.

     "Breakfast casserole. I called my mom for my grandmother's recipe last night after you went to bed." Kevin said, smiling slightly as she pulled him closer.

     Gently kissing him, Sariel wrapped her arms around him and scooted closer to him. Enjoying the feeling of him wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her even closer as he deepened the kiss. With a final nip at his bottom lip, she pulled back slightly and asked, "It almost done? I should really get my brothers up and the Winchesters too."

     "Yeah, coffee's already made as well. Just don't break Gabe's ribs this year. I'd hate to spend Christmas in the ER with him." Kevin said, grinning and backing up so Sariel could slip off the counter.

     She rolled her eyes at him and, standing on her tip toes, placed another gentle kiss to his lips before she bounded down the hall to her brothers' room. Cautiously opening the door, she peeked in to see both Gabe and Cas curled up facing away from each other. Grinning, she slipped silently into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Taking a few steps, she launched herself at the empty space between them and let out a high pitched squeal of excitement as she landed and bounced between her brothers. Both of them jerked awake and, almost immediately, tried to turn towards the source of the disturbance to their sleep. Gabe ended up rolling in the wrong direction and falling off of the bed, shouting a long string of curses as he hit the hardwood floor and got caught in the duvet when he tried to sit up. Sariel giggled softly and turned to look at Castiel, who was sitting up and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

     "Merry Christmas, my dear brothers!" Sariel said loudly, hugging Castiel and giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. He chuckled softly and wrapped his arm around her waist in a side hug. Gabe grumbled something unsavory about his sister under his breath as he finally untangled himself from the duvet and stood up.

     Sariel grinned cheekily at Gabe until he chuckled and said, "At least you didn't land on my chest this year."

     The Ingraham siblings looked up when they heard the door open. Sariel grinned when she saw a bleary eyed Sam and Dean standing in the hallway. Frowning sleepily, Sam looked worriedly at Gabe and said, "We heard a crash and cursing. Everything ok?"

     "Sariel decided to wake us up by jumping on the bed. I fell off and got caught in the duvet" Gabe said, scratching his bare chest before remembering that both he and Cas slept shirtless. Striding over to the dresser, he opened up one of the drawers and dug through it for a clean shirt.

     Standing up on the bed and stepping over Castiel to hop off the bed, Sariel headed towards the door and said, "We'll meet y'all in the kitchen. Kev's already got the coffee made and breakfast ready. We can open gifts afterwards." Sariel waited until she'd gotten some form of acknowledgement from her brothers before she grabbed Sam and Dean by the upper arm and lead them to the kitchen.

~*~*~*~*~*

     After breakfast, everyone gathered around the tree in the living room. Sam smiled slightly as he watched Sariel dole out gifts while Kevin guarded their coffee. He glanced over at Gabriel, who was seated beside him talking animatedly with Dean about his ideas for a few new sweets to add to the menu. Chuckling softly, he took a sip of his own coffee and turned to find Castiel watching Dean with an almost imperceptible smile.

     After a moment, Castiel noticed Sam watching him and blushed as he looked away from Dean. Sam smiled and shot him a knowing look before looking down at his own pile of gifts. Setting his coffee aside, he started opening his gifts as the others tore into theirs. After many wrapping paper fights and a couple verging-on-inappropriate-thank-you kisses, Sam and Gabriel started to clean up the mess while the others got dressed to go have a snowball fight.

     Sam was washing the dishes when he heard Gabriel wander into the kitchen. Glancing over at him, the taller man smiled and said, "Having a good Christmas so far?"

     "Of course. Are you?" Gabriel asked, leaning against the counter as Sam continued to wash the dishes.

     Sam shot Gabe a mock thoughtful look and said, "Well...I got a book on mythology that I've been eyeing for the past few months, I've spent the past few weeks having the best Christmas vacation that I've had in a long time, I've actually seen a side of my brother that I never thought I'd see and, on top of all that, I managed to land the guy I've been pining after since I started undergrad at Stanford...I think that rounds out to be a pretty damn good Christmas."

     Gabriel chuckled softly and shook his head. He still couldn't believe that Sam returned his feelings. He kept waiting to wake up and be told that this was all a dream or the work of some supernatural creature from Sam's mythology books. Looking back over at Sam, he said, "That does sound like a damn good Christmas."

     Sam chuckled softly and, setting the last plate in the rack to dry, wiped his hands off on a dish towel. Walking past Gabe, he poured himself another cup of coffee and glanced at Gabe with a small smile. Setting the carafe back on the warmer, he held his free hand out to Gabe and, once he'd taken his hand, lead him out to the living room to watch their siblings and Kevin's snowball fight. Wrapping his arm around Gabe, Sam pulled him to his chest as he watched Sariel and Kevin gang up on Castiel while Dean stood back and laughed only to have the three of them turn on him and pelt him with snowballs.

     Watching Dean squawk indignantly as he ran for cover, Gabe chuckled and said, "Looks like your brother forgot that all's fair in a snowball fight and alliances mean nothing." Sam snorted softly but didn't respond as he took a sip of his coffee; content to just stand there with Gabe and watch their siblings play in the snow.

~*~*~*~*~*

     Dean hid behind a tree to avoid getting pegged in the back of the head with another one of Sariel's snowballs. After a minute or two, he peeked out from behind the old oak and watched as Sariel chased Kevin, who was cackling like a hyena, towards the backside of the cabin. Kevin yelled something about how all's fair in love and snowball fights and Dean smirked when Sariel responded that if he shoved snow down her top again he wouldn't be getting laid until they graduated. Ducking back behind the tree when he spotted Cas, Dean gathered up a bit of snow and made sure to pack it loosely so that it didn't turn to ice before chucking it at Cas and catching him in the neck.

     Cas jumped and swiped at the snow only to have it slide under his collar and down his shirt. Cursing under his breath, he look around for Dean and spotted him right before he ducked behind the old oak tree. Smirking, Cas strode over to the tree and, instead of just grabbing a handful of snow to dump on his favorite Winchester, threw the majority of his weight onto the tree's trunk causing all the snow that had been settled on it to suddenly come tumbling down on top of both of them.

     Dean yelped in surprise when the snow crashed down on his head. Bolting from underneath the tree, he yelled, "Damn it, Cas." Dean glared at him, trying his damnedest not to smile, as Cas poked his head around the tree and gave the other man a sheepish grin while dusting the snow from his hair. Pointing at the professor, he bit back a grin and said, "You better run, Angel-boy."

     Grinning, Cas turned and sprinted off towards the lake with Dean trailing not too far behind him. They'd only gone a few yards from the house when Dean caught up to Cas and tackled him into a snowdrift. Cas laughed as he wiggled around to face Dean, who was smiling down at him. Smiling, Cas quirked a brow at Dean and said, "Well, Mr. Winchester, you've got me right where you want me...now what?"

     "Depends."

     "On what?"

     "On how you react to this." Dean muttered before he leaned down and kissed him.

     Cas' eyes widened and merely stared at Dean without reacting. It wasn't that he didn't want to because, well, Dean was a very good kisser. Though he already knew that from the mistletoe incident. He blinked as Dean pulled back with a red face that had nothing to do with the cold weather or the snow they were currently laying in.

     Dean cleared his throat and said, "Well...That didn't go as hoped."

     "You kissed me..."

     "Yeah...I did."

     "Willingly."

     "Obviously."

     "You wanted to kiss me."

     "No shit, Sherlock."

     "I think I'm having some trouble understanding this. Did Gabriel or Sariel put you up to this?"

     "What? No. Why the hell would you think that?"

     "Because they both want me to move on from my last ex. Though neither of them know that I moved on over three years ago. I've dated a bit but nothing serious. No one that I'd want either of them to meet."

     "The other day, Sariel said something about a...a heaviness...." Dean said, shifting into a more comfortable position lying beside Cas in the snow drift.

     Cas snorted softly and said, "The heaviness that I carried around for the past few years had absolutely nothing to do with Meg and absolutely everything to do with my biological parents telling me that they didn't want me in their life, or my brother's, because I'm an abomination due to my sexuality." Cas paused for a moment, looking up at the sky. Cocking his head to the side, he added "Though Jimmy told me that he didn't care what my sexuality was, I was still his brother and I would always be welcome in his home."

     Dean hummed softly in acknowledgement and, after a few minutes of silence between them, looked over at Cas and asked, "Cas, You...you really didn't know? I thought....I thought I was being pretty obvious since even Kevin picked up on it."

     "I'm...not very adept at picking up hints, Dean." Cas said, shifting onto his side to look at the mechanic. "I can be very dense at times."

     "So...I'm going to have to spell it out."

     "Not necessarily. I just...Did not think that you felt the same way about me." Cas said, chewing on his lip before leaning over and quickly giving Dean a kiss on the lips before pulling away again.

     "Don't think you're getting away that easily, Angel boy." Dean said, smiling and pulling Cas on top of himself. Cas blushed but merely leaned down to kiss the other man; ignoring the fact that he was getting colder and colder the longer they laid in the snow. He'd deal with their potential frostbite when they got back to the cabin. For now, he was content to lay on top of Dean in the snow and make out with him.


End file.
